About our scores

I am often asked in various forms about our scoring system, so I thought I’d clarify a few things.

Firstly, 50% is average. We do not subscribe to the belief that 70% is an average score.

Secondly, games scoring about 50% can be considered good/fun, but are not true classics of all time.

We do avoid playing terrible games on purpose. Bubsy 3d, was terrible at release, we know it won’t hold up. Sonic Adventure however, is lauded despite being utter shit.

90-100%: Some of the best games ever made, they still play well today and everybody should try to play these games at some point. Once you hit 94%+ it is a bit of a Richter scale increase, the difference between 94 and 95 is more than 85-90. Scores above 93 are not given out easily.

80-90%: Great games, buy no means perfect but are still highly recommended. Think Batman Arkham Asylum or Final Fantasy X

70-80%: Fun games, have their flaws or are limited in scope but still worth a play. Most games on the whole will fall into this category. Think the original Resident Evil or Dino Crisis.

60-70%: Serviceable, you will most likely enjoy it. Doesn’t do anything interesting or unique to elevate its score. Think Resident Evil 5

50-60%: These games don’t offer much, or the core gameplay may no longer hold up. This can be poor game design, or fiddly obtuse UI from an era gone by. Z is our definition of average.

30-50%: Mediocrity is thy name. Not inherently “bad”, but certainly not good. You may enjoy games in this region but that is either; franchise love, blindness, or novelty factor. Think Bart vs the Space Mutants

20-30%: Games that feel either broken or incomplete, rushed sequels or terrible step ups from 2d to 3d, usually contains the odd fanboi game who will flame you until they die of asphyxiation. Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Crazy Taxi 2

0-20%: Shower of Shit. You don’t want to get any of these games stank on you. Bugs, flaws, terrible ideas, and glitches. Or just lazy cash grabs. Spice World, Superman64, Bubsy 3D and Sonic Adventure type games.